In The Jungle The Mighty Jungle...

Tam:

It took only a comfortable 5 hours by OCC bus from San Cristobal to Palenque. As we got our bags, we definitely noticed we were back in the jungle. The heat was sticky and people were dressed in singlets and shorts. We hopped into a taxi and sped the 6kms to our accomodation, Mayabell in El Panchan, right inside the national park and only a few hundred metres from the ruins itself.

Mayabell is a large property fully equipped with a popular restaurant (more locals or visiting Mexican families ate there than the guests), grass huts where you can rent a hammock for the night, regular rooms, a pool and our room for two nights; a cabana. Very comfortable surrounds and a much better way to get reaquainted with the jungle and howler monkeys.

Our first night was spent cooling off in the huge pool surrounded by lush green dense jungle. In the morning we planned on getting up early to spend all day at the ruins.

A few hiccups with our intended start (camera needed charging and we arrived way before the ticket office opened), we started the steep climb up towards the main ruins. Unlike the other ruins in Tulum, Chichen Itza and Tikal (in Guatemala) Palenque is still active archealogical site and spans over 15 kms, whats amazing is that they are still excavating and discovering new things every day. Most people not staying so close to the ruins get driven to the main site, we decided to walk or rather climb and i personally couldnt wait to get some exercise. It was though but really rewarding, once we got to the top of the hill we were greeted with temples and palaces and other preserved ruins set amongst a spectacular jungle backdrop.

My favourite ruin was not the biggest, it was the tallest though at this site, Templo de Inscripciones. The Palace was nearby a stream and contained a ceremonial court with baas relief carvings of warriors and animals. To the right up much higher and across the stream were four more temples. Coxy was filmed running from one to the other.

After a very energectic morning, we walked back to the museum and decided to check out Palenque town for some authentic Mexican comida. Glad we did, El restarante Tijanas served to die for steak chilaquiles and i tried as suggested by sis the chimichangas.

The rest of our stay in the jungle was spent reading, swimming and i treated myself to a hot stone massage and facial- it was lovely! The only real downside were the rude apathetic hotel staff.